Principal Area Planner/Technical Planner

Salary: £49,000 - £53,000 per annum, plus benefits

Location: Stratford, Southwark, London / Working from home

Contract Type: Permanent TfL contract

Overview

London is the best big city on Earth. With Spatial Planning at the heart of major planning and investment decisions, we are responsible for helping ensure it stays that way. We are looking for people with big ideas and a passion for planning to help shape the future of the Capital.

It is an exciting time to join the Spatial Planning team. We work to shape London’s future proactively by supporting sustainable development in London and ensuring good future public transport provision. We lead on the integration of land use planning and transport to support the Mayor’s objective of ‘Good Growth’. We develop policies through the London Plan, Opportunity Area Planning Frameworks and Local Plans, along with guidance to make sure they are successfully implemented. We identify and make the case for transport infrastructure to support growth and secure funding from new developments. We contribute to the planning and delivery of successful major developments by realising improvements to, and mitigating the impacts on, the transport system and the environment.

The role

You will Influence and shape new developments, local planning policy and area plans to meet key transport outcomes. This includes ensuring that TfL’s objectives and London Plan policies are met through TfL’s involvement in land use planning matters referred to the Mayor by local planning authorities and planning applications affecting the highways network referred to TfL directly by London boroughs.

You will lead the development and dissemination of best practice in relation to TfL's role within the planning process and work closely with officers in the GLA and boroughs and with developers on major applications to secure desired transport outcomes and mitigations and protect TfL assets. To support the wider Spatial Planning team and the GLA in the preparation and implementation of area planning frameworks and masterplans to embed more sustainable travel patterns and ensure transport requirements and investment priorities are understood.

Key Accountabilities

• Lead TfL’s response on planning applications, undertaking assessment and co-ordinating internally to evaluate the technical and policy response to major development proposals and masterplans against relevant planning and transport policies, balancing different business priorities and ensuring a robust and coherent TfL position
• Lead the liaison and negotiation with GLA, boroughs, developers etc on planning applications, ensuring engagement through all the stages of the process, including pre-application through to implementation, to secure key transport outcomes and negotiating agreements and mitigations on transport and appropriate financial contributions from planning obligations
• Work closely with the GLA to ensure reports to the Mayor reflect TfL's position and priorities, draft associated briefings and responses to key matters and give evidence to Planning Committees, inquiries etc to justify TFL’s position on applications
• Work with boroughs to shape Local Planning Committee reports and lead TfL’s input to local planning policy documents
• Represent TfL at senior level meetings with the GLA, boroughs, developers and others to secure key transport outcomes
• Support / lead TfL's input to studies/frameworks/planning documents for particular Opportunity Areas, Areas of Intensification and other growth areas eg Housing Zones
• Manage casework of and provide coaching / support to Planners and manage consultants and legal advisors.
• Develop and disseminate best practice and innovation in Spatial Planning's approach & processes to promote continuous
• improvement in the way TfL helps plan and assess new development to ensure MTS/London Plan objectives are delivered.

Financial Impact:

• Direct budget expenditure of c£100k
• Responsibility for securing multi-million pound contributions to transport e.g. station schemes, bus services, cycle hire
• Assist in raising of £600 million in Crossrail Section 106 contributions in the period to 2018/195
• May have direct and indirect/matrix line management responsibility for staff (inc. graduates and apprentices) and project resource as required

Key Interfaces:

Internal

• Team members in the Operating Businesses involved in planning assessments and other project teams.
• Relevant Legal officers
• TfL’s consultants and legal advisors

External

• Head of Planning Decisions Unit and case officers up to Director level in the GLA.
• Elected borough members and borough land use & transport planning officers up to Head of Department level.
• Developers and their consultants.
• Central government (e.g., DfT, DCLG).

Skills, Knowledge & Experience

Skills

• Able to influence and advise key decision makers at all organisational and political levels.
• Strong collaboration skills, able to work effectively across a range of stakeholders and balance competing priorities
• Strong negotiation skills and able to handle complex stakeholder relationships in the context of development proposals
• Excellent written and verbal communication, conveying complex issues and priorities
• Able to work and think both strategically and tactically
• Able to manage projects and caseloads in accordance with agreed project plan to deliver outcomes for TfL.
• Able to manage consultants
• Able to manage cases and work in a project team environment to tight timescales
• Able to provide effective technical planning advice to non-technical people

Knowledge

• Degree in relevant discipline, membership of relevant professional body (e.g. RTPI, CIHT) or equivalent experience
• Thorough understanding of the development process
• Detailed understanding of planning and transport legislation in London, local government, and funding mechanisms (e.g. S106/CIL) and how they inter-relate
• Good understanding of development control issues as Highway and Traffic Authority.
• Good understanding of key land use and transport planning challenges facing London.
• Thorough understanding of the transport assessment process.
• Good understanding of a multi-modal urban transport environment.

Experience

• Experience of providing advice externally on land use planning and policy procedures.
• Experience of dealing with major planning applications and responding to planning policy documents including S106 and S278 negotiations.
• Experience of providing input into development of local and strategic transport and land use strategies / policies.
• Experience of preparing and giving evidence to planning inquiries and examinations.
• Experience of managing complex projects (including with consultants) with tight deadlines and delivering to time and budget and of writing scope documents for internal providers / external consultants.

Equality and Diversity

We are an equal opportunity employer and value diversity. We do not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, age or disability status.

On this recruitment campaign, as part of TfL’s continuing commitment to be an inclusive and equal opportunity employer we will be removing personal identifiable information from CVs and covering letters that could cause discrimination.

Application Process

Please apply using your CV and a covering letter.

Think carefully about the skills, knowledge and experience in the advert and cover this in your CV and cover letter.

The closing date for applications is 23:59 on Monday 8th May 2023

Benefits

In return for your commitment and expertise, you will enjoy excellent benefits and scope to grow. Rewards vary according to the business area but mostly include:

• Final salary pension scheme

• Free travel for you on the TfL network

• Reimbursement of 75% of the cost of a standard class Ticket for National Rail travel from home or 75% reimbursement on a 28-day flexi ticket

• 30 days annual leave plus public and bank holidays

• Private healthcare discounted scheme

• Tax-efficient cycle-to-work programme

• Retail, health, leisure and travel offers

• Discounted Eurostar travel